Blueberry Faery and the Dragons

By Fran LaPlaca

There has never been a faery quite like Blueberry Faery. Everyone thinks so. Everyone except Blueberry. But when a friend is in trouble, Blueberry knows she has to try her hardest. With the aid of an addled groundhog, and a hamadryad found in the most unlikely of trees, Blueberry does the unthinkable; she crosses the desert that leads to Dragonland. But things there are much worse than she ever imagined. For when she is forced to face an evil long gone from Faeryland – the Dark Faery, Blueberry finds her own uniqueness may be the only way to save Dragonland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fran LaPlaca
• Release date: Mar 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476095776

Fran LaPlaca

Fran LaPlaca is the author of the Keeper of the Way series, including Blade of Lightning and Keeper of Fire. Non-series novels include The Aduro and To Serve the High King. Short stories have appeared in the DAW anthologies Better Off Undead and Something Magic This Way Comes, and also in the original Warrior and Wisewoman and the Realms of Wonder anthology, Fantastic Companions.When not writing, she enjoys reading manga, wishing she could draw, and trying to find ways to disguise onions and mushrooms so that her children will eat them unknowingly. (Edited to add: The onions and mushrooms thing isn't working out so well.)You can find more information and a complete list of titles available at http://www.franlaplaca.com, as well as a really nice picture of a llama.

Book preview

Blueberry Faery and the Dragons

by Fran LaPlaca

Smashwords Edition

copyright 2012

all rights reserved

Chapter One

Blueberry Faery

If you travel to the Land of Faerie, you must be clear-eyed. When you come to a nondescript low green bush (the kind with the berries on it that you're a little leery to eat..) turn in a circle three times while chanting quietly under your breath, The Faerie Queen I come to see, give me sight so I may see... When you open your eyes, you may be privileged to see the Castle of the Faery Queen, shimmering with rainbow hues in the distance. Make your way carefully, never taking your eyes off the Castle, for it will be gone should you look away....

~~~~

Blueberry Faery was more than happy to join the other Meadow Faeries in a game of Hide and Sneak. It was a gorgeous, hot summer morning in the Meadow, and the sun was shining brightly. Only one fat white cloud floated high in the sky, and the scent of wildflowers filled the air.

The Meadow Faeries had developed an unusual version of Hide and Sneak that allowed one with Blueberry’s disability to join in. They began by choosing up sides, with Faery Bumblebee and Faery Pikmouse as Captains. Blueberry had only just been chosen as left sneaker, her favorite position, when Lady Tabbycat sent a magic purple pulse.

The game paused immediately.

Lady Tabbycat? Faery Pikmouse asked politely.

Hello, faeries, Tabbycat said. Blueberry, I need to talk to you, dear. Could you return to the burrow right away?

Or course, Lady Tabbycat, Blueberry said in surprise. She couldn’t imagine what Tabbycat wanted that was important enough to interrupt a game of Hide and Sneak; especially on a beautiful summer day. I’ll be right there.

But then we won’t have a left sneaker, Bumblebee cried, and Lady Tabbycat smiled.

Finish your game first, Blue. I’ll be waiting. And the magic purple pulse faded out.

They tried, but some of the spontaneity had gone out of the game, and shortly after Blueberry found herself at the entrance to the burrow. She scratched Esther under the chin and went inside.

Esther’s outside again, Blueberry said as she entered the main chamber, and Lady Tabbycat turned around.

Blueberry knew Esther had her own, proper burrow on the other side of the meadow, but the confused groundhog spent nearly every minute sitting outside this burrow, which had belonged to her great-great grandmother, who had bequeathed it the Meadow Faeries long before Esther had even been born. Esther is our friend, Lady Tabbycat reminded the younger faeries. And if it makes her happy to sit outside our home, then she can sit there.

Blueberry had always admired Lady Tabbycat. The older faery’s wings were a patchwork of colors, black and brown and gold, as thin and delicate as a spider web. Her hair matched her wings, marvelously, and her eyes were a soft greenish yellow. Blueberry herself had plain blue hair and eyes, and although her wings were the deep, almost purply blue that she loved, still...

Lady Tabbycat handed Blueberry a cup of faery nectar and motioned for her to sit down.

The Queen has asked for a faery-in-waiting, Tabbycat told her as Blueberry folded her wings in and took a seat. And I’ve decided to send you.

Send me where? Blueberry asked.

To the Castle, of course, Tabbycat replied. You’re going to be Queen Star’s new faery-in-waiting.

Blueberry almost spilled her nectar. The Castle? The Castle of the Faery Queen? She was going there?

But what about my wand lessons? she finally asked, her mind whirling. And what about... she stopped, a blush creeping over her face.

Well, as for your wand lessons, they will continue, Tabbycat said hastily. Lady Periwinkle has consented to take you under her, er, wing, while you’re there, until you’re properly trained. And as for the other, Tabbycat said with barely a hesitation, well, Periwinkle and the Queen know, of course, I had to tell them. Periwinkle will help you find a way around the problem.

But Lady Tabbycat, what will I do in the Castle? I’m only a Meadow Faery!

Only a Meadow Faery! Tabbycat said indignantly, and Blueberry apologized.

I mean a Meadow Faery who can't... she stopped at the stern look on Lady Tabbycat’s face. But what does a faery-in-waiting do? she said instead.

Tabbycat frowned. Now as to that I’m not sure. But Lady Periwinkle and the Queen will let you know. Now, go ahead and pack your things. They’re expecting you later today.

How do I get there? Blueberry asked, fighting her panic. The Castle’s invisible if you don’t know the secret.

But I know the secret, Tabbycat told her. And I’m going to teach it to you before you leave.

~~~~

You’ll know the bush when you see it, Tabbycat had told her, but Blueberry couldn’t imagine how. She’d followed the winding paths Tabbycat had set her on. She found herself now in a landscape dotted everywhere with low, green bushes, the kind with the little red berries that Blueberry knew she shouldn’t eat. She trudged past bush after bush, but not one appeared to be one that held magic powers.

Once you find the bush, the rest of it is easy, Tabbycat’s instructions continued in Blueberry’s memory. Close your eyes tight, turn in a circle three times while repeating ‘The Faery Queen I come to see, give me sight so I may see.’ When you open your eyes it will be there.

What will be there? Blueberry had asked.

The Castle. Don’t, Tabbycat’s voice had sharpened, don’t take your eyes off it, not for one second, once it appears. Don’t even blink. If you do, it’ll be gone, and you’ll have to find the magic bush again. And it’s never the same bush. Last month, she added with a frown, when I had a cold, my eyes were watery, so I kept blinking. Took me all day to get to the Castle. But I’m sure you’ll be fine. Just keep your eyes on the Castle, and before you know it, you’ll be there. Once you reach the bush, it’s really the only way to get there. For anyone, she said with emphasis. The Wizards have no-fly spell over the whole area.

But first I have to find the bush, Blueberry thought, and just then she did.

It looked exactly like every other bush she’d seen so far, but it was just a little bit more. A little bit more green, the berries a little bit more red, and all in all, it was just, well, just a little more of a bush than the others had been.

Taking a deep breath, and with one last longing thought of her home in the Meadow, Blueberry Faery closed her eyes and began turning slowly in a circle.

The Faery Queen I come to see, give me sight so I may see. She finished her first circle and determinedly kept her eyes shut tight. She started her second turn.

The Faery Queen I come to see, give me sight so I may see.

Blueberry felt a tingling behind her closed eyes, almost an itch, and she spun a third time, faster.

The Faery Queen I come to see, give me sight so I may see.

She opened her eyes. Directly in front of her, barely a half mile distant, was the Castle of the Faery Queen.

Chapter 2

The Castle of the Faery Queen

It was the most beautiful castle Blueberry had ever seen.

Well, Blueberry thought truthfully, it’s the only castle I’ve ever seen. But it must be the most beautiful, because I can’t imagine anything more glorious.

The Castle shone in the morning sun, and even though it hadn’t rained in days, a magnificent rainbow arched above it. The colors slipped and slid from one to another, a perfect kaleidoscope of hues. And under the rainbow stood the Castle.

Spires of sparkling jewels rose into the air, the light from the sun making them twinkle and shine, and the walls of the Castle were of the same ever-changing colors of the rainbow. Blueberry longed to see it up close. Keeping her eyes fixed wide open, she began to walk.

She ran into trouble only once, when one foot stepped into a small hole in the ground and she lost her balance. Amazingly, even as she fell, she never took her eyes off the shimmering Castle. Picking herself up, she was quite sure-without looking-that her slippers were ruined with dirt and grass stains.

She finally reached a long, sweeping staircase of milky white stone that rose in gigantic steps up to the Castle’s front door. Blueberry closed her stinging eyes in relief as she sank down on the cool stone of the first step. A low, musical laugh reached her ears, and Blueberry opened her eyes in surprise.

"It is exhausting, isn’t it? Having to keep your eyes on it constantly? Drives me batty, but there’s nothing we faeries can do